mattsrhinos1978 wrote:We'r a terribly coached team, we have no structure and no plan, obvious to anyone with eyes
Our talent ID is also appalling, what kind of team are we, its Smiths team now, thats last seasons excuses out the way, so what does a Smith team look like:
Are we a Big team?
Are we a Quick team?
Are we a fit team?
Are we an intelligent team?
Are we a resilient team?
The answers no to all, we have no playing identity that translates to successful RL.
He will leave us, hopefully soon, in as bad a mess as he found us
Not as bad a mess as he found us I don't think. You know better than anyone where the youth is at today compared to years gone by. For various reasons (mostly size), Mustapha, Broadbent, Edwards, Sutcliffe, McConnell, Field and a few others didn't work out. We had a long time in the wilderness.
I do believe that Lumb, N McCormack, Edgell, Smith, Simpson, Brown, White, Cassell, Lloyd, Stelfox and some others are real chances. There are some talented lads with pace and/or size. Still a couple of years off putting a real stamp on first grade but I'm much happier about the future than I have been for a long time.
There are only enough real quality domestic players for maybe the top 4/5 clubs in SL, and gone are the days where clubs can afford genuinely first grade NRL players. The risks are huge bringing NRL players across now, they're either chronically injured, have major attitude issues, or are unproven. Nobody who can make first grade in NRL is going to choose SL in the current climate - or very few.
So Leeds have to continue to work on the youth development and actually do better there than we have before, against a backdrop of declining participation. Most importantly, we have to be better at this work than our competitors are.
Having said that we are going to need to use any quota spots very well for 2025 if we're going to plug the obvious holes in the side and mount a serious challenge. I'm actually more bothered about the squad quality and balance than I am the coach - it does take both to be successful but I don't believe our squad is good enough still regardless of who's coaching.
This is another reason I think we need to recruit from the NRL for a coach if we do replace Smith: someone with contacts and who is well thought of over there is worth its weight in gold when it comes to attracting the type of talent Leeds needs to break into the big time again.